During the battle, Dreis ordered the destruction of one of the Death Star's deflection towers, which Porkins and Darklighter destroyed with their starfighters' laser cannons. Porkins' craft struck debris from the tower and began to malfunction, causing him to drift over the Imperial turbolaser batteries mounted on the surface. Ignoring Darklighter's warning to eject from the craft, Porkins was killed almost instantly by ground fire.[4] The officers and pilots around the central command table in the Massassi war room heard Porkins' last words, and Elyhek Rue vowed that he would be avenged.[8] Despite this, another Rebel pilot didn't receive word of his death, and asked if Porkins could see Luke Skywalker's fighter a few minutes after Jek was shot down.[3]